22 Life-Changing Things We Learned About Beauty in 2015

2015 was full of wild hair colors, fresh skincare tips, and genius makeup hacks that turned our beauty world upside down. Here are the biggest lessons we learned this year.

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1
Two mascaras are better than one.

If you're only using one mascara, it's time to rethink your beauty routine. "Each mascara has one purpose, no matter what the advertising says," says Laramie, pro makeup artist and founder of Book Your Look. "Certain ones give you a lot of length while others offer thickness and volume." Check out our tutorial on the simple mascara process that makes your lashes look massive.

Designed by Dana Tepper

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2
Babylights are a low-maintenance way to enhance your hair.

For those who didn't feel inclined towards the unnatural hair color trends, babylights were the perfect way to snag a lovely look without going wild. "Babylights are super soft highlights that delicately soften the roots of solid-colored hair," says Devin Toth, hairstylist at Salon SCK and Rowenta brand ambassador.

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3
Plopping your curls is an easy way to get gorgeous bounce.

No method of getting defined curls was as big in 2015 as the plopping technique, which involves plopping your curls atop a towel, wrapping them up, and allowing them to dry.

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4
Multi-masking makes face masks actually work for you.

2015 was the year of the face mask. With sheet masks and other formats becoming massively popular, the beauty world decided to go one step further in customization. Multi-masking is the practice of using two or more masks in different parts of your face in order to target specific problems, giving you more personally effective results. Here's a detailed guide on which masks to use depending on your skin issues.

Design by Katja Cho

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5
All those complicated makeup tutorials become so much easier with an eye map.

Trying to follow along with Pinterest and YouTube tutorials can be really difficult when you don't know which parts of the eye they're referring to, but this road map to your eyes makes the process way simpler. Check out this more detailed guide to what type of eye makeup goes on which part of the eye.

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6
Nail polish can actually make your hands look younger.

By wearing elegant shades that aren't over-the-top (read: no neon), you can make your hands look more youthful with the swipe of a polish brush. You can also slim the appearance of your nails, give your complexion a tanner look, or even fake longer nail beds all with polish. Here's how it's done.

Design by Katja Cho

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7
Oil slick hair is how brunette ladies can get in on the funky color action.

A post shared by Brandy✂️Barnes (@brandybstylist) on Sep 25, 2015 at 9:52am PDT

Who says blondes have all the fun? The oil slick trend, which combines blues and purples for a shimmering multicolored effect, is even better on darker locks.

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8
Mascara stamping makes your lashes look thicker.

Rather than swiping your mascara once from root to tip, this quick and easy step of pressing your mascara brush to your roots makes your eyelashes look thicker. Bonus: Your eyes will look like you have a thin line of eyeliner on, even if you don't use any at all. Check out our step-by-step guide to this technique.

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9
You can curl all your hair at the same time.

This trick is probably one of the biggest timesavers we've ever seen. To curl all your hair at once, you simply need to pop it into a high ponytail, wrap the hair around a curling iron, and go. And on top of the ponytail trick, there are plenty of other ways to get curls and waves in under 10 minutes flat.

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10
When it comes to removing your makeup, try micellar water.

Whether you're taking off all your makeup for the day or simply removing a smudge, micellar water is the new way to go. Perfect for sensitive skin, this gentle one-step cleanser became one of the most talked-about skincare innovations of the year.